MANCHESTER is to become the main home of the Labour party conference - hosting the money-spinning event in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

The news, confirmed by the party today, will be worth an estimated £50m to the local economy.

MANCHESTER is to become the main home of the Labour party conference - hosting the money-spinning event in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

The news, confirmed by the party today, will be worth an estimated £50m to the local economy.

It means Manchester, which hosted the event in 2006 and 2008, will have been the host city every second year for nearly a decade.

That is on top of the Conservative conference being held in Manchester for the first time later this year.

Conference capital

The news cements Manchester's place as Britain's political 'conference capital' despite fierce competition from rivals like Birmingham and Glasgow.

Experts believe private and public-sector conference have been worth around £100m to Greater Manchester over the past three years - while also boosting its international profile.

Labour's decision to hold its week-long conference in Manchester in 2006 marked the first time it had visited the city since 1917 - and saw Tony Blair deliver his last keynote speech as prime minister.

The 2008 event made national headlines as Gordon Brown saw off a potential coup with a passionate address to the conference hall.

Labour had already confirmed it would return in 2010 - and decided today to add Manchester to the calendar for 2012 and 2014.

There was good news for Liverpool, too, which will host the Labour conference for the first time in 2011.

Phil Woolas MP, Labour's minister for the north west, said: "This is fantastic news for both Liverpool and Manchester and we're very proud to have the Labour party conference regularly coming to the north west in the next few years.

"As Manchester has proven, the Labour party conference will generate millions of pounds for the region's economy with thousands of visitors including delegates, ambassadors, journalists, and business people coming to the city."

the Labour party conference will generate millions of pounds for the region's economy with thousands of visitors including delegates, ambassadors, journalists, and business people coming to the city

Phil

Ray Collins, the Labour party's general secretary, said: "The annual conference is the highlight of the party's year, a time when party members come together to discuss how to achieve Labour's vision of a fair future for all.

"Labour broke new ground when we held conference in Manchester in 2006 and in 2011 we will be the first party to visit Liverpool. New host cities provide us with the opportunity to broaden potential conference venues and the people that attend."

Politicians, delegates and the media have all praised Manchester during previous conference for the quality of its facilities and traffic links. It has a ready-made 'conference quarter', based around Manchester Central - formerly known as the G-Mex - with the Midland and Radisson hotels less than one minute's walk away.

Police are able to throw up a 'ring of steel' around the conference zone, patrolled by up to 1,000 police each day.

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